Summary: Headaches, massages and the death-glare of mau.

Kahina's apartment proved easy to find, despite her headache rendering her half-blind with agony and struggling to direct them there. She couldn't stand to have the overhead lights on, so Atem located a lamp beside the sofa and threw his jacket over it to dim the light to a ruddy glow while Kahina riffled through her medicine cabinet for painkillers. "You okay in there?" Atem called out towards the bathroom.

"No, I'm fine!" Kahina emerged a moment later with two tablets in her hand, which she tossed into her mouth and swallowed. "Well…no. I feel sick as a dog and my head won't stop pounding."

"Perhaps you should try to sleep it off?"

Kahina flopped down onto her sofa, shoving a few cat toys out of the way, and laid her head down on the arm with a groan. "Sounds great, but I don't think I'm going to be able to." She reached out a hand out in Atem's general direction. "Come and sit with me for a while?"

"I-I…"

"I'll move my legs. Here, there's room." Kahina drew her knees to her chest in a fetal curl, but Atem continued to stand there and blink and blush; concern about having room to sit down had to be the furthest thing from his mind.

"I shouldn't. It isn't…I mean, I…"

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's pretty creepy of me. You can go, if you like. I'll be okay."

A heavy, sinking feeling threatened to crush Atem's ribcage. Here his friend was, confused and in unbearable pain, and he was about ready to run off back to his home and allow himself to be consumed with embarrassment. He could swear one of Kahina's cats was eyeing him with disgust in its yellow gaze, and he shivered in a mixture of reverence and shame.

Holding up one finger to Kahina, he disappeared into her kitchen, and poured her a glass of water, which he pressed into her hand once he returned. A light pink blush crept up Kahina's neck and face. "T-Thank you."

Atem took the previously offered seat and rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke next, "Please forgive my behaviour, Kahina. I'm afraid I'm not all that used to being alone with people who aren't my housemates."

Kahina smiled at Atem weakly. "Do I scare you that much?"

"You don't scare me at all. I just…have the social skills of a deaf dolphin, as Bakura often likes to say."

"Bakhure?" Kahina lifted her head ever so slightly.

"Bakura," Atem corrected gently.

Kahina frowned. "The name sounds familiar, but I…ahh…" She pressed her fingers into her temples again and groaned. "Damn, it hurts so bad right now - !"

Atem found himself leaning forward and laying a hand on her shoulder, unsure of what else to do other than to follow his instincts. Tears glittered at the corners of Kahina's tightly closed eyes and gathered on her lashes as she trembled and gasped in her pain.

Atem recalled a similar look on Mana's face back when they were children, and she had tripped over a rock and cut her knee. She'd clutched at her leg and whimpered and cursed, but refused to let her tears fall. Her bravery was something Atem had always admired as they grew up, and seeing the carbon copy of Mana before him now, he couldn't help but feel that old protectiveness and admiration creep back into his being.

What to do, though? How did one handle a migraine?

A thought came to him – another memory, but from only a few months back; a rare moment of empathy and subsequent scalp rub from Bakura during one of Malik's splitting headaches. It certainly calmed Malik down and eased his discomfort, though he later bitched at Bakura for messing up his foundation.

I am not putting her head in my lap, but maybe…

"Kahina," Atem chanced, "may I…that is to say…do you trust me?"

"O-Oh?" Kahina cracked an eye open. "What…?"

"I saw a friend get a massage when he had a headache. Maybe it would help you as well?" Atem scratched his scalp in an unconscious emphasis that he wasn't asking Kahina to strip off her clothes, merely have her hair down.

Her one eye continued to gaze, wet and bleary, but a slight twitch in the corner of her mouth confirmed her happiness at the thought, and she slowly pushed herself upright. "That…sounds lovely, actually," she whispered. She raised a hand to her head and hooked a finger underneath the gold band holding her bun in place; with a few gentle tugs, the thick mass of chestnut spilled down over her shoulders. "Be gentle, okay?"

"Of course," Atem smiled. "Let me know if I need to do anything different."

Kahina swivelled round then, presenting her back to Atem. His mouth chose that moment to dry up completely, fingers clenching and relaxing repeatedly as he stared at the back of Kahina's head.

Where do I start? Well, I guess getting a little closer would be good.

He shuffled forwards on the sofa, crossed his legs, and raised his hands to cup them over Kahina's ears in what he hoped was a gentle, grounding establishment to the act. To his pleasure, she uttered a quiet sigh, and her shoulders visibly dropped. It looked to be a good sign, at any rate, so Atem allowed his fingers to slip beneath Kahina's hair, starting to work his way upwards in careful circles.

He took his time, making sure he didn't snag any hair or tug on tangles. Kahina's locks felt thick and slightly coarse against the sensitive skin of his hands, not unlike his own, and with every passing minute that she didn't tell him to change his technique or stop, his confidence in the act swelled.

"You're really good at this," Kahina whispered. Her head tilted back a touch, making Atem's fingers press firmer against the spot they rested on, and she sighed with obvious delight. "Thank you, Atem…"

"Don't mention it. Least I can do to help you out."

Kahina's posture continued to relax as Atem went on massaging her scalp. The muscles in her neck had a stiff feel to them, so Atem let his hands slip downwards to work out the tension residing there. Kahina occasionally tilted her head left or right in response to his touch, rolling into the presses of his fingers and directing him to where was most uncomfortable.

After a while, Kahina leaned back completely, now resting her body weight against Atem. Her head leaned onto his shoulder with enough room for him to manoeuvre his hands around her head and neck, but it wasn't going to take much more; in fact, she appeared to be falling asleep. "Comfortable?" Atem teased.

Kahina's only response was a soft, content groan, and at that, Atem let his hands come away from Kahina's scalp slowly. He turned his body to sit properly on the sofa again, settling his feet back on the floor; Kahina immediately dropped her head to Atem's chest and nestled into him, much to his shock.

"K-Ka…Kahina?"

"Is it okay?" she murmured.

Is it? Atem wondered. The girl barely knew him, but she'd been friendly to him from the start, invited him for a drink, put her trust in him to come into her home. It was plain to see that she was incredibly comfortable in Atem's presence, and yet, Atem really did have the social skills of a deaf dolphin after all. As far as anything that wasn't card game related went, the former Pharaoh might as well have been a teenager again, wondering why he sometimes got flushed and jittery around Isis and Mana back in the day.

But what is there to lose here?

"It's okay," he smiled. One hand made its way back to her hair, but only to give it a gentle ruffle.

"Good." Kahina sighed heavily, happily.

"How's your head?"

"Improving." Kahina's eyes were closed, but a sleepy smile plumped her cheeks. "Hey…Atem?"

"Yes?"

"You know…I feel like…" she paused to yawn widely, "like I've known you…all my life…is that weird?"

The heart dead for several thousand years might as well have taken on a sudden, maddeningly rapid, life of its own, but Atem's gaze remained calm. "No, Kahina," he murmured, hand still stroking her hair; he hadn't even registered he was still doing it.

"Mana…"

"Hm?"

"It's alright…you can call me Mana."